My daughter tends to be forgetful and easily distracted. She is also not known for tidiness...all of these are traits she has acquired from me. Because I see the worst of myself in her when these qualities shine forth, I am often telling her, and reminding her, and re-reminding her about things that need to be put away and about things she is about to leave behind. I often threaten to put things in time out or to give away the toys she cannot seem to put away. And, as a mom, I feel justified in doing so.
Today she lost the arm of a Barbie to a Beagle with a love for plastic doll arms. This is not the first doll that has ended up in this condition. My daughter was devastated at first, and to be honest, there was a time when I would have somewhat rejoiced in this happening to "teach her a lesson." But, here is where God is working in my heart. This natural consequence (that I had warned her would happen if she left her doll out), broke my heart right along with hers. So instead of scolding her about how the doll ended up in the grasp of the rabid, Barbie-eating Beagle, I spoke with her about people who have lost their arms due to accidents or who were born with less than perfect arms. I told her about how they are still beautiful. We even decided that she could find a decorative band-aid and put it on the Barbie's arm to cover the teeth marks and make her injury more fashionable. Then my daughter decided on Barbie's new back story - shark attack!
I cannot even begin to list out all the things I learned from this little moment in our day. But I can share that I was thanking God for His work in me that allowed me to give my daughter a better memory of this day than I would have given her not too long ago.
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